7. Life-Changing Power

Seven Compelling Reasons

Even if you don’t yet know any other compelling evidences
that the Bible is true, you should know the experience of your own life.
Like the blind man who received his sight from Jesus and was then
interrogated by the Pharisees, you can say, “One thing I know:
that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

Someone has well said that the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. That
common adage illustrates one of Scripture’s most profound truths: its power
to transform the lives of those who trust in Christ as Savior. Everyone can
experience that power personally, and then share his or her experience with
others.

The apostle Paul stated this remarkable truth when he wrote that if any person
is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away and all things
have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Previously he himself had been a blasphemer
and persecutor, but the grace of God had so changed his life that he became
a minister of Jesus Christ, preaching the very truths that before he had sought
to destroy (1 Timothy 1:12–15).

The change in our own hearts is one of the most compelling evidences we can
give of the Bible’s truth. Sharing true stories of transformed lives has been
a church staple since Christ sent the demoniac of Gadara back home to “tell
what great things God has done for you” (Luke 8:39).

History is full of memorable conversion stories, and it would be good to learn
a few of them, along with some powerful modern testimonies. One of my own personal
favorites is John Bunyan, the seventeenth-century Baptist preacher and author
of the bestseller The Pilgrim’s Progress. His autobiography Grace Abounding
to the Chief of Sinners has been called one of the greatest autobiographies
ever written.

Grace Abounding is Bunyan’s personal testimony. His unfailing honesty
grips the reader as he describes his life before conversion. Bunyan is unsparing
on himself, writing that he was such a horrid blasphemer that even notoriously
wicked people were fearful to associate with him. He recalls his abject terror
while ringing the church bell fearing that it would fall and crush him because
of his wickedness.

However, the title of the book relates its message. While Bunyan’s sin was
great, God’s grace in Christ was greater. Although we must examine the details
to grasp fully the transforming power of God’s grace in any person’s life, a
brief illustration or two often suffices to make the point.

In a moving paragraph, we encounter these arresting words from one who previously
had been a blasphemer against Christ: “And now I found . . . that I loved Christ
dearly: O! methought my soul cleaved unto Him, my affections cleaved unto Him;
I felt love to Him as hot as fire.”

Or the following: “Those scriptures that I saw nothing in before . . . shine
upon me. Jesus Christ also was never more real . . . than now; here I have seen
and felt Him indeed.”

Not only did God transform the life of Bunyan, He called him to minister the
Word of God. What was the character of his ministry? He longed to see others
born again through Christ.

He professed, “In my preaching I have really been in pain, and have, as it
were, travailed to bring forth children to God; neither could I be satisfied
unless some fruits did appear in my work.”

Like millions before and after him, John Bunyan experienced the lifechanging
power of God’s Word personally. No wonder he entitled his autobiography Grace
Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Bunyan, like the apostle Paul, never lost
the wonder of God’s transforming grace.

All that is required for any of us to experience that wonder is to “taste and
see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:9), and nobody who has done so has ever
been disappointed.

Answers Magazine

April – June 2011

Continual attacks on God’s Word can cause even Christians to question the Bible. Are you prepared to answer the attacks, or more important, questions from those who honestly want to learn how we know God’s Word is true? This issue of Answers will burrow down to the heart of the matter, highlighting seven reasons we know the Bible is true!

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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. We focus on providing answers to questions about the Bible—particularly the book of Genesis—regarding key issues such as creation, evolution, science, and the age of the earth.